16th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Grand Illusion
The title of this photograph "Grand Illusion" is drawn from the name of the classic Jean Renoir World War I film. The photo includes the scene where Erich von Stroheim cuts off the geranium’s head, “the castle’s only flower,” a symbol of the declining aristocracy in a European world with a rigid class system. The observer of the film, my subject, sitting in his sunlit bedroom, is a former businessman and a Korean War veteran, in his late eighties. His body has aged, but he remains physically active, as well as mentally engaged in the wider world of politics, business, and finance. He sits on the edge of his bed, not yet dressed for the day, engrossed in the retelling of this World War I film classic.
Photo Detail
Date Taken: | 11.2018 |
Date Uploaded: | 11.2018 |
Photo Location: | New York, New York, United States of America |
Camera: | E-M5MarkII |
Copyright: | © Mildred Alpern |